Visiting Barack Obama

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I spent my days in the Windy City. It was an experience that was beyond amazing. I’ve been to hundreds of cities, but Chicago was definitely the best city I’ve been to.

Google Maps View (courtesy of Google)

Instead of typing a post that many will pose as boring, I will highlight one of my many adventures. Since I was in the city, there were hundreds of attractions and sights that I saw, but the most significant (in my opinion) was visiting President Barack Obama’s house in Hyde Park.

I knew what his house looked like (don’t call me a stalker, it was in the news during his campaign). So I googled his address on my phone and it turns out, his address was just a click away. I typed the address into my GPS and sooner than later, I was on his street.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be there. It’s a ritzy neighborhood and I really had no business there, but I had to try- I wanted to see where our President had previously lived. Nonresidential traffic is disallowed on the actual road he lives on, but foot traffic was permissible. There were endless gates and signs barricading the street. I acted casual in an attempt find his house, until a man in uniform stopped me and started questioning me.

I’ll admit I was a little nervous as first, especially with everything that is going on, both in our own nation and internationally. The guy was definitely doing his job, abrupt as he had to be. I also couldn’t take any pictures (or so he said) of the Obama household. After seeing his house from about 100 feet away (as close as I was going to get) I decided to see his house from the main street. That was nearly impossible. Trees blocked any peek at the President’s Chicago house. Many suspicious eyes watched as I slowly drove past the house in an attempt get a good look.

Despite political affiliation, Mr. President is Mr. President. He’s a great man in many ways and it was somewhat honorable to see his house as close as I did. It made him a little more relatable , instead of someone who I only see online or on T.V. It’s a shame I never got to meet him.